Thursday, July 20, 2006

Updates from Israel - Thursday July 20

12:40 AM I'm going to bed - signing off now. Reporting tomorrow (Friday) will be less than usual because it's erev shabbat.

A quiet shabbat to us all.

--Jameel.

Reports of 2 soldiers killed in helicopter crash. Unconfirmed reports as well of IDF casulties near Avivim. I'm not staying up now to sustantiate the reports now...they should be on YNETnews soon.

12:22 AM Unconfirmed reports of TWO IAF helicopters colliding in Israel near Ramot Naftali (in Israel, not South Lebanon). Reports say it was a collision of the 2 helicopters and they were NOT shot down as Hizbolla is claiming.

12:09 AM Unconfirmed Reports of IAF helicopter down in South Lebanon. Checking sources...

Also Israel Solidarity Rally in SAN JOSESunday, July 23 at 5:00 pm Tentatively planned for either Plaza de Caesar Chavez or City Hall. You will be notified of the exact location. For more information:(408) 366-910811:41 PM Rally for Israel in Toronto, CANADA

Stand With Israel - Join the RallyWednesday July 26, 7:30 pmToronto Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge Street11:34 PM Qassam Rocket lands in Karmiya (Southern Israel)11:30 PM Israel TV (CH10) reports that the interview with Nasralla was not live on Al-Jazeera, but previously recorded.11:28 PM Someone sent me a website pointing to a film, “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” www.obsessionthemovie.com. Has anyone seen this movie or know anything about it? Worth seeing? Thanks...11:10 PM Air Raid sirens heard in Carmiel and Tzefat11:06 PM Nasralla appearing on live TV interview onAl-Jazeera Television -- and says not one member of theHizbolla leadership has been hurt. (corrected)

11:04 PM More pictures of Katyusha rocket damage in Haifa

10:52 PM Sirens heard in the Western Galilee. Four Katyusha rockets land in Rosh Pina. No Injuries. Rumor from Lebanon that Nasralla will make a TV appearance this evening.

10:50 PM Some pictures of Katyusha damage to Haifa (click picture for full screen) More pictures coming soon.

10:18 PM Released for publication by military censor. Some of the terrorists arrested yesterday at the Palestinian Authority Muqata in Shechem, were working for Hizbolla.

9:38 PM Lots to post, but have to run to shiur.

Eilat Hotels at 100% capacity, due to influx of guest from the North. The IDF checkpoint at the Northern entrance to Eilat had a 7 kilometer traffic jam, as thousands of people flock to Eilat. Hotel occupancy in the North is at an all time low.

Intense Firefight continues up North on the border near Avivim. IDF troops kill at least 10 Hizbolla terrorists, while the IDF has some wounded and casulties reported.

Check back around 10:45 PM, Israel time -- as I have lots of pictures to post.

3:24 PM Israeli IDF tank soldiers prepare for mission on Israel's Northern Border. Tefillat HaDerech/Prayer for a safe journey, recited in their tank. The soldier reads off the prayer from a card connected to is dog tag.

3:00 PM In previous firefight today near Moshav Avivim -- 3 Hizbolla terrorists killed by IDF. One person lightly wounded by Qassam strike in Southern Israel. IDF Chief of Staff says war may take a long time.

After warning South Lebanese to move northwards, the IDF dumps leaflets on Gaza warning residents that any home with weapons in it, is liable to get destroyed.

2:45 PM Reported Rocket Strikes in Haifa

1:47 PM For those of you who were upset at the picture I posted a few days ago of Israeli girls signing missiles for launching at Lebanon, Lisa provides the full background story. (It was sort of a set-up)

1:43 PM No missile strikes in Haifa or surrounding areas.

1:32 PM 230 New Olim arrived in Israel this morning from North America through Nefesh B'Nefesh. Welcome Home -- Ken Yirbu!

1:30 PM Air Raid sirens in Hafia and Nahariya -- no reports of Katysuha hits.

1:12 PM Picture from Avivim (in the north!) from yesterday's fire (result of Katyusha strike in the middle of Avivim during heavy firefight between IDF and Hizbolla). Credit - rotter.net

12:55 PM Geographically Challenged? You read Muqata updates about all these places around Israel and Lebabon, but you have no clue where they really are. Is Avivim North or South...and is Tzomet Amiad in the east or west of the Galil...and where is Maalot? How far is Sderot from Gaza...?

We at the Muqata understand...and will be now introducing a feature...the war in maps. Using GoogleEarth technology, we'll help pinpoint the different locations in Israel (and Lebanon as well) to help acquaint you with the locations in the news.

Our first image map is here...click for a full screen. More to follow....

12:44 PM Qassam Rockets Landing in Sderot.

11:49 AM One of Israel's largest Internet Service Providers, Netvision, is having technical problems with it's DNS. That means...many many news providers, bloggers and websites are experiencing slowdowns and service interruptions. It should be fixed soon...

11:31 AM Fierce fighting around the Northern Border between IDF soldiers and Hizbolla. CNN reports that US Marines have arrived in Lebanon to assist in evacuating American citizens who wish to leave. IDF radio reports that many South Lebanese are leaving their homes and going north in accordance to IDF instructions. Katyushas all over the north...3 IDF soldiers wounded in fighting 1 serious, 2 moderately. Still no word on Nasralla after Israel's bombing of a Hizbolla bunker late last night in Beirut.

11:04 AM Rocket Landed near Tzomet Amiad, no damage, no injuries.

10:48 AM Senior IDF artillery commander tells YNET: We have already shot over 10,000 shells at terrorist targets in South Lebanon over the past week.

10:22 AMAdministrative Message: Do you live in Israel, have good hebrew skills (reading and comrehension), and think you're blog savvy? I need a volunteer or two to help run this blog, since it's taking up too much of my time...Drop me an email...Thanks! (muqata@gmail.com)

10:21 PM One Minute Video From Aish HaTorah -- correlating the 3 weeks to the current situation. See it here

10:21 AM Rockets feel a few minutes ago in Tverya and Carmiel.

10:06 AM While Natzrat town leaders publically complained yesterday that the air raid sirens are not working in Natzrat -- the reason was explained last night. Since the sirens automatically go off twice a year on Yom HaShoah and Yom Hazikaron, and the town requested for the sirens NOT to go off that day -- to honor their request, they were disconnected from the national IDF Homefront command system. They are being reconnected now...

So now that they're turning the sirens back on in Natzrat, are they going to leave them on permanently? Or do the Arabs get to demand sirens when they want them, and also not to have to endure them when they don't?

First off, your keeping this blog running this quickly is AMAZING. After yahoo, you get to be my primary news source.

Secondly, story of little girls notwithstanding, if we saw a picture of little Arab girls drawing on ammunition that said "To Israel/ Sharon, with love" or whatever else, do you think we would say, "oh, they were scared, etc," even if they WERE civilians or justifiably scared? Probably not.

I'm not sure what I think of it- of the little girls being there- but I don't like the justification aspect of it. There's no need to apologize if you think you're right, and if you were firing at Hitler or at evil people, and wrote "To Hitler, with love," most people would understand, I think. So if you are equating whomever to an incredilby evil creature, and that's really what you believe, then you're fine.

I've been following your posts daily, and updating them frequently, since this started. Thank you very much for keeping us in touch with what's going on over there. Keep it up, and let's pray you don't need to do it much longer.

should we read anything into the fact that nasrallah hasnt come out with any comments today or that the idf has been very quiet about last night's bunker attack since early this morning? is it possible that the idf is trying to gather some evidence that he was in fact killed?

Jameel I heard the person that made this film Obsession on with Rush Limbough (talk show host) yesterday,it sounds good and I think he said he has a link @ rushlimbough.com Have a good night and stay safe!

Thank you for the constant updates, you're the 1st place I go after i turn the computer on. Ynet is the 2nd but you're more comprehensive. Thanks so much. It is truly appreciated. G-d willing you won't have this job for much longer. (I live in hope)